The total amount of marijuana the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office seized during a Thursday traffic stop was the largest in department history. (Photo Provided)

TRIADELPHIA — A traffic stop on Interstate 70 near The Highlands netted the largest drug arrest in the history of the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department, according to Ohio County Sheriff Tom Howard.

The department seized 429 pounds of marijuana from a single van, Howard said. That marijuana had a street value of nearly $1.3 million.

The driver of the van, Barry Lee Stadler of Hudsonville, Michigan, was arraigned Thursday on a charge of felony possession with intent to deliver and was in the Northern Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.

Around 10 a.m. Thursday, Howard said that Maj. Rod Vaught and Cpl. Nate Dober were headed east on Interstate 70 toward The Highlands when they saw a white van speeding and driving erratically going the same direction.

They stopped the van, Howard said, and allegedly smelled an overwhelming odor of marijuana when they approached the vehicle.

According to the criminal complaint, the driver, Stadler, told Vaught and Dober he was heading from Oklahoma to New York, at which point they told him he was headed the wrong way. Stadler allegedly told Vaught and Dober he was turned around to buy gas and earbuds.

According to the complaint, Vaught and Dober had Stadler get out of the van and asked him about the marijuana odor. Stadler allegedly said he had some marijuana in the center console and the deputies allegedly found a small amount of the drug, plus a grinder, glass bowl and burnt roach in an ashtray.

While investigating, Dober opened the rear of the van and allegedly found 10 boxes and six large plastic bags of what appeared to be packaged marijuana. The van was towed to the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the criminal complaint, the contents of the boxes and bags had an approximate street value of $1,284,000.

“My guys did an awesome job,” Howard said. “That’s why we run traffic on Two-Mile Hill. They say we don’t, but we do. This was just a traffic stop. There was no intel or anything. Maj. Vaught and Cpl. Dober did an awesome job.”

The case remained under investigation, Howard said.

“I’ve said it before,” he said. “Thousands and thousands of vehicles come through Ohio County constantly. (Drugs are) moving through here. You know it’s moving through here. It’s just a matter of finding it. This is huge.”